In-vehicle driver assistance apparatuses used to assist drive operations are known. For example, an apparatus disclosed in a patent document 1, i.e., Japanese Published Application 2013-161257 may detect other vehicles approaching and already in a subject vehicle's blind spot by using a camera, a radar sensor or the like, and notify the driver of the other vehicles. The apparatus in patent document 1 may, for example, detect vehicles in an adjacent lane approaching or already in the subject vehicle's blind spot and notify the driver, when the subject vehicle uses a turn signal/indicator to signal movement from a current lane to the adjacent lane.
The apparatus disclosed in the patent document 1 has a plurality of lamps vertically arranged on each of a front-right pillar and a front-left pillar (i.e., A-pillars) of the subject vehicle. When an adjacent vehicle approaches and enters the blind spot of the subject vehicle, the front pillar lamps on the A-pillar corresponding to the side of the approaching vehicle are lit in an upward manner (i.e., bottom most light to upper most light) to notify a driver of the subject vehicle to vehicle(s) approaching the subject vehicle's blind spots from behind. In such manner, front pillar lamps may clearly be recognized by a driver to notify and alert the driver to vehicles in adjacent lanes approaching and already in the subject vehicle's blind spot.
Such notification lamps embedded in a vehicle's A-pillars may be problematic however, when front/side curtain airbags are also installed in these front pillars as an occupant safety device. Front/side current airbags may be installed in a vehicle's pillars, including the front A-pillars to protect a vehicle's occupants at the time of a collision. Such front pillar lamps, as described in Patent Document 1, may interfere with the installation of the curtain airbags within the A-pillars and deployment of the curtain airbags in the A-pillars may cause the lights embedded in the A-pillar to break and scatter throughout the vehicle compartment during a collision of the subject vehicle.